


A Song And A Smile

by Lilsciencequeen



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Disney Princesses - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Snow White - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 12:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilsciencequeen/pseuds/Lilsciencequeen
Summary: When Jemma is asked to be Snow White at a birthday party, she thinks nothing of it. Surely she can't meet her True Love there, her Prince Charming. They don't exist. Or do they?





	A Song And A Smile

She pulled the duvet up over her head, groaning loudly trying not to throw up as she came back to consciousness. Awful wasn’t even a word that could begin to describe how she felt; her head was pounding, and the spinning sensation gave her such an upset stomach that she was doing all she could to hold back the vomit. Daisy had persuaded her to go out last night, a way to celebrate her new job, and Jemma couldn’t say no.

But now she was starting to regret it, having stayed out into the early hours of the morning, stumbling into her apartment just after two. Somehow she had made it home and collapsed into bed, not having gotten out of her clothes it seemed, her dress from the previous night having been what she slept in.

She was home safe, and in one piece, which was all that mattered, and now her plans for the rest of the day were to stay in bed. She only planned to leave to get water and painkillers, and that would only happen when the world stopped swimming so getting a phone call from Lance Hunter-Morse was somewhat a surprise.

Answering it, she could only groan down the phone, words not something that she could yet muster.

“ _And the same to you Simmons,_ ” Hunter greeted.

“What do you want?” Jemma asked, not prepared to deal with Hunter this morning.

“ _Your help_.” A heavy sigh came from down the other end of the line. “ _The princess has cancelled. Turned out it was too good to be true, that she was a fraud. And we need your help.”_

Jemma frowned, knowing that it was their daughter, Samantha’s birthday, that day and they had hired someone to be Snow White at the party, and now it seemed that was no longer happening.

“Lance,” she said, sitting up, and immediately regretting it. “What are you asking?”

Another heavy sigh and then “ _We need you to be Snow White. Do you still have that dress from Halloween the other year?”_

“Yeah, yeah I do.” It was the dress she had spent hours working on for a costume party, something that she only came second place in.

“ _Weneedyoutowearit_.” The words from Lance came as one rushed one. “ _Please Jemma. You can’t let Sam down._ ”

Jemma paused for a moment, knowing that she didn’t have to even think about it. She wasn’t going to let Sam down, not on her birthday. Hangover or not, she was going to give the girl the best birthday party that she could. “Give me twenty minutes.”

***

Bobbi was still putting the finishing touches to her makeup when the first guests began arriving and Bobbi hadn’t stopped thanking her all morning. Jemma told her it was no big deal, that she couldn’t let Sam down, not on her birthday.

Her head was still pounding, but the world was no longer swimming in front of her. She hadn’t dared to eat anything, not wanting to throw up again as the first time had been bad enough.

“Done,” Bobbi said, stepping back and holding up the mirror so that Jemma could see the transformation. Between her and Bobbi, they had done a pretty good job of disguising Dr. Dr. Jemma Anne Simmons, biochemist. Though she looked nothing like the classic Snow White from the animated Disney classic, she still looked pretty convincing as the princess in question.

“You think it will convince her?” Jemma asked, unsure as she knew that kids tended to pick up on things quickly. She didn’t want to ruin Sam’s birthday by not being good enough.

Bobbi nodded, putting the mirror down and making her way across the bedroom. “Of course, she’s only six Jemma. As long as you don’t upchuck everywhere or give yourself away, you’ll be sweet.”

Jemma nodded, somehow not feeling that reassured by Bobbi’s words, the followed the woman to the room, and to the landing, looking over the railing at the congregation of child that had gathered. It was now or never, she was going to have to go down the stairs.

***

It was as Hunter was preparing the barbeque outside that Jemma had a moment to herself, reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a pack of painkillers. She popped two out of the pack and got herself a glass of water.

“Headache?” a voice asked from behind her. The voice was male, Scottish. Definitely not one that she recognised. She spun to face them, and tried to hide a squeak of surprise when she saw him; just a tiny bit taller than her, soft brown curls and blue eyes, with a smile that seemed to light up the room.

Composing herself, she laughed. “Hangover.” She shook her head. “The actual Snow White cancelled, I had this costume, so I was roped in last minute.”

He looked her up and down, as if checking it out. “Impressive. Where did you get it?”

“Made it myself for Halloween. Won second place.”

If her mind wasn’t fooling her, Jemma could have sworn she saw shock slide across his face. “Second place? What was first place then, a working Dalek costume?”

She shook her head. “That was third, wasn’t perfect. First was a working R2-D2 costume.”

He let out a low whistle. “I would love to have seen that.”

“It was amazing. It deserved to win. Jemma!” she called her name out suddenly. “Jemma Simmons.”

He reached out, taking her hand in his own, shaking it. “Fitz. Leopold Fitz. But I prefer to go by Fitz.”

She nodded, understanding, then looked out at the window, at the mass of kids that were out there, swarming Hunter as they not so patiently waited for the burgers to cook. Then she realised something, Fitz was the only parent who had remained. There must be a reason for it. But she decided not to press the issue, it was probably personal and she had no reason to invade his life, she had just met him. “Which one’s yours?” she asked. All the kids had been a blur in her mind, the only one Jemma really knowing was Sam.

He came over, and stood beside her, also leaning on the counter. “That one there. Poppy.” He pointed to a girl that from the back, seemed to have the same unruly curls as him, slightly away from the main crowd and she knew immediately who he was talking about. The one girl in the party who had been shy, the one who had stood back from everything, as if she didn’t really want to be there. “She’s the reason I’m here.” He sighed. “We only moved to America two months ago, and she’s in Sam’s class.”

“Oh,” Jemma said, not really knowing how to reply to this but it seemed she didn’t need to worry about it.

“Her mum walked out on us just over a year ago. But she was always shy, bit of an introvert. The kids in her year, they were intimidated by her, she was always a bit smarter than the rest of them. I hoped moving here would help, I just want the best for her.” He sighed, shaking his head, as if worried he was failing his daughter. “I just wish I could find some class for her, something chemistry related. But nowhere will take her, she’s too young.”

“I can help.” She turned to face him, a smile gracing her face. “I might not be able to get her into the lab, not yet anyway. But I can talk to some people, see if they can get her in. Should be easy enough.”

“You have lab space?” he asked.

She nodded. “Shield Academy. Head of biochemistry.”

“Wow,” he whispered. “And I thought working R and D in Stark Labs was impressive.”

She raised her eyebrows in admiration. “That’s impressive. Not many people even get past the application stage.”

He laughed. “Didn’t even need to apply. Apparently they loved me so much they asked for me.”

“You’ll have to let me have a look at that work one day,” Jemma told him and he nodded. He looked as though he were about to say something else but he didn’t have the chance, Sam running back into the house, grabbing Jemma’s dress and shaking it.

“It’s time for food! Mummy said it was!”

Jemma smiled down at her, lifting the young girl up. “Well it that’s the plan, I can’t object.”

And she left the kitchen, wondering what Fitz was going to say to her.

***

The rest of the party went well, Sam not even once questioning that her favourite princess could be Jemma Simmons in disguise and by the time evening rolled around, all the guests had gone. Well, all but one. Sam has asked could Poppy stay a bit longer and Bobbi had turned to Fitz who had turned to Poppy, asking if she wanted to stay. The young girl had looked around the room, looking more than a bit nervous that she had been put on the spot. But eventually she had nodded, and now the two young girls were lying on the living room carpet, playing with the new Lego sets that Sam had received for her birthday.

Bobbi and Hunter were cleaning the house, leaving Fitz and Jemma in the kitchen, both with a mug of tea. Jemma didn’t have to stay, but she chose to, wanting to spend more time with Fitz. Her makeup had all come off by this point and her hair was no longer pinned up but still the two young girls still thought she was Snow White. Bobbi had been right after all.

And getting to know Fitz, it was amazing getting to know him, he was so kind, so understanding. He wasn’t like anyone else she had ever met; he was kind hearted and made her laugh. And he was more than a bit handsome.

They spent hours chatting that it wasn’t until he checked the clock on the wall that he realised what time it was. Just after eight. “Crap,” he muttered. He rose. “I’m sorry, it’s Poppy... time for bed.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine, I understand. I should be heading also. Long day and all that.” She rose too. “It was amazing getting to know you Fitz, truly it was.”

She smiled at him and he returned it. “Suppose they’ll want to say goodbye to you?”

She raised one eyebrow, an incredulous look on her face. “Like this?”

He nodded, laughing. “They’ll still love you.” He offered her a hand, and she took it, and he immediately bowed.

She couldn’t help laughing as he guided her into the living room like she was in fact royalty. “Pops,” he said, and she could tell he hated saying it. “Time to go home.”

Both girls let out groans of annoyance. “We were just getting to the good part!” Poppy protested. “Five minutes longer, please.”

“Sorry poppet. You’ve to go home and get bathed, then go to bed. You’ve had a busy day.”

“Tomorrow,” Sam said, turning to her friend. “You can come tomorrow, she can, can’t she?” She turned to face her parents, both of whom were collapsed on the sofa.

Bobbi nodded. “Of course she can.”

Poppy smiled widely. “Thank you.”

“No worries sweetie.”

“You going to say goodbye to Snow White?” Fitz asked and his daughter nodded, ploughing straight into Jemma and nearly knocking her off her feet.

“I love you Snow White,” she whispered into the skirt of Jemma’s dress

Jemma knelt down, wrapping her own arms around the girl. “You’re truly amazing, you know that. And don’t let anyone tell you you’re not. Go and be a scientist. Save the world.”

Poppy looked up at her awe-struck. “You think I can do that?”

Jemma nodded. “I _know_ you can do that.”

Poppy gave her one more hug before allowing her dad to lift her up into him arms and then it was Sam’s turn to come charging across the room but this time Jemma was ready for it.

“Thank you for the best birthday ever!”

“It was such a fun day.”

Sam pulled away, and looked up at her new friend. “Tomorrow?”

Poppy nodded.

“I’ll drop her off at 2ish?” Fitz asked and Hunter nodded. “That would be perfect.”

Then Fitz turned to Jemma. “And I’ll pick you up half four say.”

She frowned in confusion. “For what?”

He gave a sly grin. “Dinner, you and me?”

“Sounds amazing, I look forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a 500 word drabble that just spiralled massively out of control and I've been watching so many Liz interviews that may have inspired this. Thanks so much for checking out, I hope you enjoyed.


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